First Licensed Digital Currency Broker-Dealer Genesis Trading Launches in the US

The former bitcoin trading division of SecondMarket, has relaunched under the new name Genesis Trading in bid to become "the partner of choice for large institutional buyers and sellers" in digital currency trading.

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The former bitcoin trading division of SecondMarket, has relaunched under the new name Genesis Trading in bid to become "the partner of choice for large institutional buyers and sellers" in digital currency trading, while creating an identity of its own from this specification. Genesis Trading, which claims to be the first fully licensed digital currency-centric broker-dealer in the US, has executed trades for more than 800,000 bitcoins since 2013.

"We have been working toward this launch for a long time and this is a very exciting day for our entire team," said Brendan M. O'Connor, CEO of Genesis Trading, adding:

"Our goal is to become the partner of choice for large institutional buyers and sellers who are beginning to recognize the economic potential of digital currency."

Talking to the Financial Times, O'Connor said that the idea was to capture large hedge funds and private investors that have shown interest in bitcoin trading.

"This idea you can have two parties that don't know each other come together and have a seamless, frictionless transaction at very little to no cost, in a decentralized environment, is revolutionary," argued O'Connor. "Institutional interest is going to continue to grow."

Genesis Trading, a wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG), allows investors to buy and sell large blocks of digital currencies, including bitcoin, litecoin and ripple, and follows strict AML/KYC procedures, according to O'Connor.

Barry Silbert, founder and former CEO of SecondMarket, resigned from his position in July 2014, to focus solely on Bitcoin-related projects.

In October 2014, Silbert announced Digital Currency Group, a "multi-faceted company focused on the development of the digital currency," operator of Grayscale Investments, a digital currency asset management firm.

Commenting on the relaunch of Genesis Trading, Silbert stated:

"Digital Currency Group is focused on launching and investing in the groundbreaking digital currency companies that will shape the future of financial services. As the leader in institutional-focused digital currency trading, Genesis will be a key piece of the industry’s infrastructure for years to come. We are thrilled to continue to work with Brendan and his team to bridge the gap between the bitcoin community and Wall Street."

Obviously, Silbert isn't the only entrepreneur interested in "bridging the gap" between Wall Street and digital currencies, considering the increasing number of bankers that have stepped into the burgeoning Bitcoin industry.

The Wall Street Bitcoin Alliance, a trade advocacy group that counts Christian Martin, CEO of TeraExchange as one of its executive committee members, launched in March 2015, with the mission of "guiding and promoting comprehensive adoption of digital currency and blockchain technology across financial markets." Founder Ron Quaranta firmly believes that Bitcoin and blockchain technology will be the foundations of what he calls "Finance 2.0."